#99: Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)

Starring: Spencer Tracy, Sidney Poitier, Katharine Hepburn, Katharine Houghton
Director: Stanley Kramer
IMDB

Emily says:
I hadn't seen Guess Who's Coming to Dinner for years. The first time I saw this film, I was probably about 10 and many of the racial issues in the film were lost on me. I remember the beginning as more of a farcical dinner party spiraling out of control than a study of race relations.

This time as I watched I was impressed that the film confronts both the racism of Joey's white parents and that of the family's black housekeeper Tillie and John's father. Tillie provides both comical relief and insight into the reality that racism is not a uniquely "white" problem.

It was fun to see Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn as the parents of a young girl in love. Their ability to portray parents who were torn between their own prejudices and their love for their daughter and her happiness was impressive. While at first I was not fond of Joey, she grew on me as the film progressed, and Sidney Poitier was excellent as always.

What I liked most about the film was that while it was about a political topic, it was more than a political film. It managed to be a film that was not only about race but also about the struggles that every couple has as they introduce their new spouses to their family, and that families have as they meet one another and discover their differences and similarities.  This is one I can imagine watching over and over again.

Paul says:
THIS is a really good movie. Great acting performances all around, the last movie that Spencer Tracy ever did, great social message, cleverly delivered, witty, some laugh-out-loud moments, some great characters, what's not to love? I'd never seen this film before and was thoroughly impressed and pleasantly surprised. This movie was timely when it was made in the mid-60s but still is applicable today. The events it portrays could probably happen in some American households to this day, if not with mixed-race couples, certainly with gay/lesbian ones, and the message is the same, you don't control your emotions and who cares what anyone else says? Definitely would watch this film again.

Rating: 9/10